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jeudi 20 février 2020

Android 11 adds individual left/right sensitivity options for gesture navigation

Android 11 Developer Preview 1 was released a few weeks ahead of schedule compared to Google’s schedules for previous years. Google did this to enable developers to have more time to adapt to the changes. We have detailed the first developer preview’s user-facing changes, its privacy-focused features, as well as new developer features. The download links are available here for the Google Pixel phones as well as GSIs for other Android devices, while the installation procedure can be viewed here. In terms of small, user-facing changes, we noticed that Google is working on an individual left/right sensitivity options for gesture navigation.

Google added its own version of navigation gestures back in Android 9 Pie, but the 2-button-plus-gesture navigation system was quickly deprecated in Android 10. 2-button navigation gave way for fully gestural navigation in Android 10, while the traditional 3-button navigation was brought back as an option. Android 10’s new navigation gestures led to initial controversy as the back gesture interferes with the navigation drawer in many apps. Google has now begun removing navigation drawers in its own apps, but third-party apps that haven’t been updated to remove the navigation drawer are still prone to conflict. The peek gesture has also been noted to be an unreliable one as it’s difficult to pull it off.

Knowing that these issues would take place, Google added an option to change the sensitivity of the back gesture in Android 10. Users could do this by going to Settings > System > Gestures > System navigation, and then tapping on the settings cog and moving the slider left and right to change the sensitivity of the back gesture. This is retained in Android 10, but its limitation is that it controls the gesture sensitivity for both the left and right edges, disallowing changing the sensitivity on an individual basis.

Android 11 Android 11 Android 11

In Android 11, Google is now working on a new page to change the sensitivity for the left and right back gesture individually. This page is not visible if you look through Settings, but you can find it if you search for “Left edge” in settings. Upon changing the slider on this page, users will see a blue overlay in the left or right edge that tells them how far in they can initiate the back gesture. This issue won’t fundamentally resolve the conflict with navigation drawers as it’s still up to developers to update their apps. However, it does increase convenience for users, which is a good thing.

Android 11 News on XDA

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Verizon reportedly won’t sell the Google Pixel 4a or Pixel 5

The struggles that Google has been facing with its hardware division have been well documented. Last year, it exited the tablet space, canceling the successor of the poorly received Pixel Slate. The Google Pixel lineup isn’t doing much better. Despite multiple attempts, the phones haven’t managed to sell well. Limited distribution aside, the sales numbers of the Pixel 4 are a minor fraction of the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S series or the Apple iPhone, for example. In 2016, Google made an ambitious agreement with Verizon to exclusively sell the first-generation Pixel series in carrier stores, while simultaneously selling unlocked variants online through the Google Store. The exclusive nature of that agreement expired in 2019, but Verizon still remained the major carrier partner for Google. Now, according to Android Police’s source, the Verizon-Google carrier sales agreement for the Pixel is dead.

Android Police reports that after speaking to a source familiar with Verizon’s plans, the carrier has apparently put on indefinite hold plans to sell new Google Pixel phones. The reason for putting such plans on hold wasn’t provided, but Android Police guesses that it’s because the phones “just don’t sell.”

This is a big blow to Google’s ambitions of entering the hardware smartphone market and positioning the Pixel phones as an alternative of Apple and Samsung, especially in the U.S. Back in 2014, Google launched the Motorola Nexus 6 on all four major carriers in the U.S, but then reversed course the following year by selling the Huawei Nexus 6P exclusively online. The 2016 Verizon-Google exclusivity agreement for the Pixels had been made for three years at that time, and was highly hyped up by Google as a proper attempt to enter the U.S. smartphone market, which is largely dominated by a carrier sales mechanism. However, it hasn’t panned out in terms of sales. The Pixel 3 series sold poorly. While the Pixel 3a was a relative success for Google, the Pixel 4 arrested the momentum by largely failing to distinguish itself against its competitors. This was despite the fact that it was being sold by all four major carriers in the U.S, making it the the first time for a Google branded phone since the Nexus 6.

Android Police‘s source believes the chances of the upcoming Google Pixel 4a coming to Verizon are now zero, as it’s far too late for Verizon to change its mind. With respect to the next-generation Google Pixel 5, there is a chance that it could end up there, only because there is still enough time left before its launch for plans to change. As of now, though, Verizon allegedly has no intention of selling Google’s next-generation phone.

The report notes that even the better sales of the Pixel 3a remain meager in the larger U.S. smartphone market. (That market remains a duopoly as Apple and Samsung are the only big players that matter, while Huawei has been locked out, and other Chinese vendors such as OPPO and Xiaomi haven’t entered the market.) Verizon was Google’s most important carrier partner as it was responsible for the biggest share of carrier advertising and promotion for every Pixel phone generation up until now.

As noted by Android Police, carriers are how phone manufacturers sell their phones in the country, so Verizon’s importance can’t be overstated. The company was apparently so unhappy with the Pixel’s sales performance that it ended the deal. The upcoming OnePlus 8 will launch on its mmWave 5G UWB network, so it’s clear that it thinks OnePlus will do a better job than Google in terms of sales.

Where does this leave Google’s hardware division? It’s a low point, to be sure. The cancellation of Verizon’s partnership would represent a failure for Google’s four-year effort to challenge Apple and Samsung in the premium smartphone market. Google may have to change its strategy here. Android Police notes that it currently has no reason to think that the idea of Google eventually exiting the smartphone market is on the table, but it may be that Google executives will have to consider it. The Pixel 5 could still end up on Verizon, but the chances are now remote. The publication has reached out to Google for comment on the news.

While this news is surprising on one level, it’s hard to say that we didn’t see it coming. The Pixel phones, despite their well-regarded strengths in aspects such as camera performance, have made far too many compromises to be regarded as genuine top-tier flagships. They are also available only in 12 countries around the world, which is a basic distribution mistake. Google may end up shifting gears like it has done previously, or alternatively, it could choose to double down its efforts even in the face of defeat.

Source: Android Police

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Android 11 tests letting you take screenshots of floating bubble messages

Google introduced Bubbles last year with the second Android Q beta. The feature would allow users to view notifications and conversations from messaging apps in the form of floating overlays, pretty much like the Facebook Messenger’s chat heads. It wasn’t formally announced with the stable release of Android 10 but hidden in the developer options. Around the end of 2019, Google even started testing it for conversations in the Messages app. With Android 11 Developer Preview, Google is not only introducing new features but also reintroducing many others that were initially teased and then later dropped from or hidden in the final release of Android 10. The Bubbles feature is getting additional functions, including the ability to take screenshots of just the bubble area instead of the entire screen.

Android 11 supports Bubble notifications by default. Users who jump the bandwagon early with the Android 11 Developer Preview can enable the feature by simply long-pressing on an unopened notification and then tapping on “show as Bubble”. Currently, the feature might be restricted to mainstream messaging apps, i.e. the ones which already support Bubbles API, but the tech giant is likely to push developers to implement support within their apps as it strives to replace the overlays with bubbles completely.

Besides the ability to view notifications in bubbles, Android 11 might also allow users to take screenshots of just the bubble area. This eliminates the efforts taking a screenshot of the entire screen and then cropping the image to get just the area covered by the floating window. A screenshot button appears when you long-press on the bubble icon. Tapping on the button will grab a screenshot of just the bubble.

Currently, the feature doesn’t fully work and tapping on the screenshot button captures the entire screen instead of just the bubble. We do expect to see a fix in the forthcoming Android 11 Developer Previews and Beta versions.

If you have a want to try out the first Android 11 Developer Preview, here’s how you can:

Download the Android 11 Developer Preview system images

Install Android 11 Developer Preview 1

Android 11 News on XDA

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OPPO recruits beta testers for ColorOS 7 and Android 10 update for the Find X, R17 and R17 Pro

Late last year at an event in New Delhi, OPPO unveiled the latest version of its custom skin, ColorOS 7, based on Android 10. At the launch event, the company also revealed the list of devices it had planned to update to ColorOS 7. In December, we saw the company rolling out a beta version of Android 10 to the global variant of the Oppo F11 and OPPO F11 Pro. Now, the company has started recruiting beta testers for more Oppo devices in India including the Find X series and R17 series.

Here’s a list of all OPPO phones which are receiving or have already received a closed beta of ColorOS 7:

  • Reno
  • Reno 10X Zoom
  • Reno 2
  • F11
  • F11 Pro
  • R17
  • R17 Pro
  • Find X
  • Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition
  • Find X SuperVOOC Edition

OPPO says the trial version of Android 10-based ColorOS 7 will be limited to 2000 applicants per phone on a first come first serve basis on the Find X, R17, and R17 Pro. This Beta program is inviting users in India and Indonesia for the Find X, India and Australia for R17, and India, Indonesia, and Thailand for the Oppo R17 Pro, Users willing to participate and test drive the early software can head to their device settings and apply for the beta program. To participate, head over to Settings > Software Update and tap Trial Version. From there, tap on “Apply Now” and check for system update; if there’s quota available, you should receive the update prompt.

Since this is a closed beta build, there will likely be a number of bugs and other issues in the software that needs to be worked out. Waiting for the stable release is recommended if you value stability over cutting edge features. Oppo hasn’t revealed when it plans to roll out the stable version to these smartphones. But given that beta testing is already underway, hopefully, users won’t have to wait too long.

Source: ColorOS Twitter (1, 2)

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Pixel Launcher from Android 11 hints at showing suggested apps on the home screen dock

The first Android 11 developer preview is now available for download. If you’re a Google Pixel user, you can head on over to our guide to download the release for your device and then you can install the Android 11 developer preview with our guide for Pixel devices here. The first developer preview includes a number of changes from Android 10, a bunch of privacy and security features, and a couple of developer-focused changes. Google is scheduled to release two more developer previews and three betas before the stable Android 11 release. In the meantime, we’ll be combing through the latest release to find everything new that’s coming in the next Android release. We’ve already spotted a number of upcoming features in the current release, including a new increased touch sensitivity option for the Pixel 4 series, a new Motion Sense gesture to pause music, a redesigned Notification History page, a new screenshot preview, and more. Now, we’ve spotted new strings of code in the Pixel Launcher from Android 11 that point towards an upcoming feature called “hotseat”.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

The current version of the Pixel Launcher suggests apps based on your activity. These suggestions show up as a row of apps underneath the recent apps screen and in the top row within the app drawer (as seen in screenshots below). The upcoming “hotseat” feature builds upon this behavior and shows suggested apps in place of the dock on the home screen. These suggested apps are based on your usage and they replace the bottom row of apps on the home screen.

Pixel Launcher Android 11 hotseat Pixel Launcher Android 11 hotseat Pixel Launcher Android 11 hotseat

Current behavior

According to the code, Google will give users the option to opt-in for the new feature and pin apps to the hotseat — which is the bottom row of apps or the dock on the home screen. While setting up the feature, users will see a couple of prompts explaining how it works, including instructions to pin apps to the hotseat, hide suggested apps, and remove apps manually. The code also references a pin prediction feature that will, most likely, suggest apps that you should pin to the hotseat based on your usage.

<string name="hotseat_items_migrated">Your hotseat items have been moved to the last page.</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_accept">"I'm in"</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_dismiss">No thanks</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_message">To pin a favorite app, drag it over a suggested app. To hide a suggested app, touch &amp; hold it.</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_prompt_content">Tap to set up</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_prompt_title">Get suggested apps on the home screen</string>
<string name="hotseat_migrate_title">Suggested apps replace the bottom row of apps</string>
<string name="hotseat_no_migration">You can remove items from the hotseat manually to see suggested apps in their spot.</string>
<string name="hotseat_onboard_notification_detail">Tap here to set it up</string>
<string name="hotseat_onboard_notification_title">Your hotseat just got smarter</string>
<string name="pin_prediction">Pin Prediction</string>

Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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iQOO 3 5G official product video shows off 48MP Quad rear camera setup and gaming buttons

iQOO, a brand under China’s BBK Electronics Corporation, has been present in China since last year and recently announced its entry into the Indian smartphone market. iQOO is all set to launch the iQOO 3 – its first device for India on February 25th. The iQOO 3 will be a high-end gaming smartphone powered by Snapdragon 865 and will have features like UFS 3.1, 55W fast charging, and 5G connectivity. Through a series of official teasers, the company has confirmed some of the iQOO 3’s other features including a 48MP rear camera, pressure-sensitive gaming triggers, and the different color options.

iqoo 3 snapdragon 865 5g

Earlier today, iQOO shared a teaser video on Weibo, giving us the first official look of the smartphone; the same was shared on Twitter later on in the day. As seen in the video, the iQOO 3 comes with what is potentially a glass sandwich design with four cameras on the back in an L-shaped configuration. Although the purpose of each of the cameras has not been defined, the primary camera has been confirmed to be a 48MP sensor – we’ll learn whether it’s Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1/GM2 or Sony IMX586 by the 25th of this month.

The teaser also reveals three different colors for the back panel. The exhibited options include a black option with a light gradient, an orange variant with black spots, and a third, bluish-white one. Each of these color variants also has a disctinctive design. At the same time, iQOO’s teaser video also confirms a single hole punch camera for selfies.

Meanwhile, iQOO India also teased that the phone features two press-sensitive shoulder triggers along the frame on each side. Users should be able to assign actions for the Left and the Right buttons per game. With all the branding that draws a great deal of inspiration from racing cars, the iQOO 3 is ready to take on other gaming-centric stalwarts like the ASUS ROG Phone II with the newer Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 mobile platform. iQOO has also announced that the display will have a touch response rate of 180Hz. However, there’s no mention of the display’s refresh rate.

The iQOO 3 launches in India and in China on February 25th. In India, the smartphone will be exclusively available on Flipkart.

We shall learn about the remaining details about the iQOO 3 gaming smartphone in the coming days. What are some of the features that you’re expecting on the smartphone? Let us know in the comments below.

Source 1: Weibo (1) (2)

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Samsung sends out weird “1” Find My Mobile notification to Galaxy users worldwide

Back in July last year, OnePlus sent out suspicious-looking notifications to OnePlus 7 Pro users, leading them to believe that OnePlus may have been hacked. The company quickly clarified that the notifications were just part of internal testing for the Android 10 update and were accidentally sent out to all users. In a statement regarding the matter, OnePlus also said that they were implementing a new process to ensure such an incident didn’t happen again. It seems like Samsung didn’t take a leaf from OnePlus’ notebook, as the company has inadvertently sent out a similar notification to its users worldwide.

As per several reports from users across the world, Galaxy users have received a weird notification from the company’s Find My Mobile app. The notification, as reported by several users on Reddit, just reads “1” with another “1” right below it. Tapping on the notification doesn’t seem to do anything beyond closing the notification shade.

For the unaware, the Find My Mobile app is designed to help users remotely locate their devices, lock them, back up data to Samsung Cloud, delete local data, and block access to Samsung Pay. In order to perform these actions, the app has access to almost all of the device permissions, which is why Samsung users have been freaking out after receiving the unusual notification.

In a statement regarding the mishap, a Samsung Care Ambassador told a user on Twitter that, “this is some test on Samsung’s end to assure services are working…Samsung will make an official statement explaining [the notification].”

Following that, the company released an official statement through the Samsung Help UK Twitter handle which states, “Recently, a notification about “Find My Mobile 1” occurred on a limited number of Galaxy devices. This was sent unintentionally during an internal test and there is no effect on your device. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers.”

Source: /r/Samsung, /r/GalaxyS10, /r/GalaxyS9, /r/GalaxyS8, /r/GalaxyNote10, /r/GalaxyNote9
Via: The Verge
Image: Reddit u/KungPaoChikon

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